Physical fitness is recognized as being beneficial to longevity, quality of life and self esteem. As a result, recent years have brought a proliferation of so called "health clubs". One of the main attractions of these health clubs is the availability of a variety of exercise machines, each of which provides means for performance on one, or sometimes two specific exercises. A series of machines of this type are known under the trademark "Nautilus", and typified by the example disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,640,527 to Procter. Each of these machines permit exercising of a selected muscle group against a resisting force derived from appropriately adjustable weights. The exercises are similar to those traditionally performed with free weights with certain beneficial additions and variations. This format as defined by health club machine usage, has become accepted as the conventional exercise format. The user is able to do bench and military presses, arm and leg curls and extensions, pull-overs, rowing lifts, squats, stomach and back exercises, and others. Moreover, in many cases these machines provide a variable mechanical advantage, maximizing the benefit of a weight through the range of movement of a given exercise, as taught by Lambert U.S. Pat. No. 4,200,279. Additionally, the performance of these exercises is much more convenient than with free weights because of the ease with which weight adjustments are made. Changing weights requires only the pulling and reinsertion of a pin, whether for a 10 pound or a 200 pound change. The typical club will have a weight room with perhaps a dozen machines in order to accommodate a complete exercise program.
Health clubs have enjoyed popularity because of the efficacy of their exercise program, the great convenience the offer, and the obvious impracticality of accommodating such a number of machines in the average home. Not only does the space required by such equipment make it unsuitable to home use, but the cost of a complete group of machines is beyond the means of all but the wealthy.
The potential market for a multi-purpose home exercise unit that provides substantially the same benefits as the array of health club machines is obvious, and attempts have been made to address this need. These attempts have generally compromised the conventional exercise format and, as a consequence, their market has been limited. Even if the alternative exercises are readily performed and generally effective, the average user is not willing to accept any significant departure from the familiar conventional exercise routine. An example of such exercising machines is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,306,611 to Martin Gaul.
The de Angeli U.S. Pat. No. 4,422,636 shows a device that provides a limited capability for the desirable type of exercises. A large mechanical advantage is inherent to this concept, making it necessary to use much more weight than would otherwise be required. De Angeli teaches neither means of adjusting the leverage, i.e. mechanical advantage, of the exercise bars to enhance the machine's usable range nor means to position the user.s body for suitable engagement therewith.
Another example is Noland U.S. Pat. No. 2,855,190 which teaches an exercise device for use in physical therapy. This device is fixedly mounted to one side or the other of an exercise table allowing one leg to be exercised at the time. Although the device has angular and radial adjustment capabilities, no means for supporting the users body in position for other than leg exercises is taught.
The present invention provides the conventional exercise format capability of a typical group of health club machines in one inexpensive unit. An exercise bar that can be located in a number of optional positions through 360 degrees around the rotational center of movement of the exercise is a feature of the invention. This exercise bar also provides a selection of leverage ratios as needed for the various exercises. A movable bench supports the user's body in position to engage the exercise bar suitably for performing the wide variety of exercises in the conventional format.
A preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a shaft mounted at the rotational center of movement having a lever arm adapted to carry a variable weight on one end and a gear with an outward facing hub on the second end. An exercise bar with a plurality of holes spaced along its lever arm, the holes being sized to fit closely on the gear hub, is selectively assembled to the gear hub. A gear rack mounted along the length of the lever arm is positioned so that it closely engages the gear teeth when any of the aforesaid holes are placed over the gear hub. A retaining nut, adapted for hand application, is used to lock the exercise arm in the selected position. Inasmuch as bilateral exercise capability is a basic characteristic of the conventional format, a full width exercise bar is essential. Easy access to the exercise position for the user and simplicity of adjustment recommend a cantilevered exercise bar, attached on one side only, as the Preferred arrangement. Sufficient torsional stiffness is designed into the exercise bar lever arm to accommodate the twisting movement carried through that member. The integral gear rack makes a useful contribution in this regard.
Most exercises are performed through an angle of rotation of 120 degrees or less. It is desirable that the weight lever arm be situated to provide the maximum benefit throughout this range. This is achieved by setting the weight lever arm so that its arc of travel is equally distributed below and above the horizontal. The angular relationship of the exercise lever arm to the weight lever arm is determined by the selected exercise routine and, stops are provided which set the lowermost position of the weight lever arm at the appropriate angle.
An exercise bench is slideably mounted on the frame of the machine allowing it to be positioned adjacent to, or on either side of, the center of rotation. Thus, the user's body can be positioned optimally for a wide variety of torso, arm and leg exercises.
With the exercise bar positioned at 5:00 o'clock, the weight arm at approximately 4:00 o'clock, and the bench to the left with its end adjacent to the center of rotation, the user can sit on the end of the bench, facing to the right. The user can then engage the exercise bar with the ankles thus doing leg extensions. With the same angular relationships, and a shorter exercise bar lever arm, the user, positioned as before , can lean forward, grasp the exercise bar with his hands, and do arm curls. With the exercise arm rotated to 3:00 o'clock, the weight arm still at 4:00 o'clock, and the bench moved about a foot to the right, the user can lie face down on the bench and do leg curls. Now, with the weight still at 4:00 and the exercise arm rotated to 1:00, the user can sit on the floor, facing left with his elbows at the center of rotation, and do arm extensions. In a similar manner, the optional arrangements of the invention allow a great variety of exercises to be performed.
The bench can even be positioned transversely and located so that the user can lie on his hack with his shoulder at the center of rotation for chest contractions, one side at the time.
In addition to the conventional exercise format as described above, a more expensive embodiment of the invention can also provide the health club machine s convenient "pull pin and reinsert" weight selection. This embodiment employs the same general cable and sheave arrangement as do the health club machines but, here again, the invention reduces the need to only one machine.